Better city communications

Would it not be advantageous if there was a means to have an opportunity for real time, two-way conversation to communicate back and forth between the good folks who manage the City of Vernon and the residents who live here?

I am not talking about a complaint department. The process would need to be a congenial, controlled and meaningful method to have an opportunity for residents to ask questions or offer appropriate information not available on the city’s website.

At the same time, it would provide the opportunity for the city to do the same thing. The city already has an information management function and the resources there could perhaps be the pivot point to manage this two-way flow of information.

The current opportunities to help the people who manage the city hear residents and vice versa, could and should be improved. On the City of Vernon’s web-site, it currently has, “Connect with Us”, “Report On Issues” and “Engage Vernon”. None of those (individual) tools, or all three together, are the system I propose. The key to what I am suggesting is there would be a convenient opportunity for all to pose questions or make comments for all to see, as they are received.

Many residents would like to know more about, and perhaps even contribute to, the management of the city we live in. The public information currently released by the city is fine but there could be more of a two-way opportunity for communication in a public forum, other than at public meetings, which are often not well attended by the public.

With such an opportunity, the city could speak to all of residents directly, hear them and it would likely reduce the number of calls or letters to city departments and elected officials. It would also provide a permanent, partial record of communications regarding management of the city.

Certainly, the city should, and would, have the right to reject communications with inappropriate content or demeanor.

It seems with all of the opportunities and means to communicate these days, we could very easily have an on-line system that would be far more efficient and effective to accomplish this goal of building a superior information flow.

The one-way discourse we currently have through local media only permits a one-sided and stale dated conversation, which is seldom totally satisfying or effective. Ultimately the city administration and city council have the right and responsibility to manage our city. (They were) hired and elected to do just that.

A collaborative, real-time, two-way approach for discussion between the City of Vernon and its residents could only help to improve the limited information exchange we currently operate with. After all, we all live here and want the best for our community.

If this (approach) was successful, perhaps other local governments would adopt a similar method of communicating.

Jeff Moore, Vernon